Just three-ish days left in the Dumbing of Age Book 6 Kickstarter, and here’s Sal, the final, thirteenth magnet for the Kickstarter!
Remember, there are PICK THREE MAGNETS and now PICK FIVE MAGNETS pledge tiers, where you can choose which three or five magnets you want, PLUS the bonus Becky magnet everyone (with a real paper book) gets. So if you want a Sal, there’s a good chance there’s a way to add her.
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I feel like this chair manufacturer is or should be the richest company in the world
I don’t think there are that mant introverts. And the one’s that are around couldn’t afford them.
Roughly 50% of the worlds population. So, sort of like how there are slightly more women than men, but they are relegated to a minority status.
There are plenty of introverts, but buying chairs requires conversation.
….. friend, let me introduce you to something called The Internet…
Is this about to get meta?
Just remember, in case of emergency: break glass! *Indicates the fourth wall.*
But then it has to be delivered, and something that big and (presumably) expensive would require a signature on delivery…
There are ways around that.
Mostly by signing the deliveryman’s “we missed you” note with the checkbox saying they don’t need a signature.
what’s the internet
Recycled electrons, memes and cat videos.
this explains so much
And porn, so very, very, very much porn.
The introverts will inherit the Earth… if that’s all right with the rest of you.
Hey Bob! How’s Case Nightmare Green looking?
How would we even know how many there are? To get statistics we’d need to y’know go out and interact with people.
…or actually answer phone surveys an’ junk. Which may be worse?!
Definitely worse for this I 30…
It’s more like, building forts out of chairs is likely to attract attention from strangers. Do not want
“We make the best chairs in the world, you can even use them to create a fort!”
My chair is shaped like a corner, I could make a fort if I got more of them but it’s super expensive
That said these are probably more expensive so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Introvert is one thing, Amber’s more a recluse.
A self-isolating ball of neuroses.
At this point her isolation is in-part due to her belief that she’s dangerous.
A brunette recluse. Only slightly venomous but with a mean bite when agitated.
This. Introverts only prefer to stay inside and keep to ourselves. We’ll strike out if the moon is right.
…
Mood. I said mood.
Use the blue shells! No room for mercy in Mario Kart!
Amber has a lot of pride. She might want to beat Sal without blue shells if she thinks that’d be a cheap trick.
Blue shells are just a cheap tactic to make weak racers stronger!
You only beat me because you had a blue shell if only I had a blue shell any blue shell.
But you have got two beaten swords, and I not a pocket-knife.
It’s also Amber trying to beat the boogieman from her past under her own merits and abilities, I think.
Blue shells are a mechanic of the game. I hate them as much as the next karter but they’re there to make the races closer because close races are more fun than blowouts. Plus good karters can still out maneuver one with a mushroom. I don’t think it’s cheap. Amber’s misplaced sense of honor only hinders her potential!
Hey, I’m of the opinion that anything possible without codes or hacks or patches or anything like that is legal for the game, take it up with Amber.
You pretty much described Amber’s ENTIRE personality.
I can see how in a two player race, a blue shell might be considered unsporting, even if I can’t see that for 3+.
She’s simply getting them so that Sal can’t use them, for that very reason.
First place almost never gets blue shells, in general.
…. maybe she’s holding it until the finish, but keeps winning so she doesn’t need it?
H… How does Sal know what items Mario Kart is giving Amber? I don’t think there’s any means built into the game to figure that out.
On the DS games you can see the items every driver is holding. Makes things interesting.
Having read the previous day’s hover text I am confused by today’s.
Oh he meant the gift card hover text, okay.
I thought it meant that we’re back to Amber because everyone laughed and left.
I thought that at first but I think maybe he would have shown someone from the gender studies class in the background to show that? Like Joe just walking around in the background?
I can’t help but feel that hovertext is aimed at me, but that’s just paranoia talking :v
…How does she know what Amber has?
How do you get rid of Blue shells without using them?
In at least some of the games the character physically holds the item. You can see them in their hands, and they drop them if they get hit.
Hm. Is there some significance to not using blue shells that I’m not aware of?
Also I would be claustrophobic as hell in Amber’s cave
I think the implication is that Amber is actively choosing not to screw Sal over with blue shells when she enters first place.
i.e. She is being a Good Guy Amber.
Blue shells target whoever’s in the lead. Amber might figure that if Sal’s earned the lead spot, it’d be mean/cruel/rude to to launch a disabling attack for it. Or maybe Amber is just opposed to blue shells in general? idek
And that stoner was Ninja Rick.
*screams in terror but knows that would make perfect sense*
YES! We’ve been told he wouldn’t make an appearance because he’s based off a real person, but David M Willis never said anything about him having an AFFECT on the comic…
He didn’t say that, did he? Did he? Anyone…
Ronald Reagan was based off a real person, and he’s had an effect on the comic, so…
But did Galasso resurrect him in the DoA universe?
Mary has his portrait in her room. Maybe she got it from Galasso?
in my heart ninja rick is dead and in hell, where he belongs
So, by extension… hell is in your heart? I’ve heard of people having a fire burning deep inside, but dang is that metal!
Wait… I think I was originally trying to be sarcastic…
Hey, if it works for Sara Waite… no, hold on, it didn’t. She ended up stuck in a piece of paper hidden in a drawer.
Or maybe Dana enrolled again.
oh my god
Is the stoner that Shaggy lookalike I vaguely recall showing up once or twice?
Ten times, including a speaking role.
Wow, that’s a lot more than I expected. My only defense is that six of them were in 2013 or earlier, and three of those have his distinctive beard hidden behind Amber.
It was the tall skinny guy with the hat. His silent, fat friend with the trenchcoat just let her have the chair.
+1
I thought General Grievous killed him on Hypori.
Apparently there’s multiple ways to make a fort with those chairs. Though it’s gotta be kinda uncomfortable on the floor under just two of them.
Perhaps the cushions are removable? Set the chairs themselves up like this, put the cushions on the floor…
I got in trouble last time I tried this. Seems there WAS a reason those cushions were so hard to remove…
I know, if I were her i would set them up on their side against a wall. that way you’re at least sitting on an arm-part
Hm. Seems to me that if one were to set the chair up on its side in a corner, you could be completely enclosed without hogging any other chairs, plus you’d be sitting on an arm and not the floor.
I mean, not as spacious as the Chair Cube ™; but still big enough for one tiny introvert curled around a DS, no? 😀
Or are all the corners all windows? That would suck. 🙁
I will legit not use a blue shell if I’m first (as I can’t use it on anyone + it’s a perfect safeguard), my opponent has one of those horns that breaks blue shells (which are only in MK8, I think), or I want to get rid of somebody else in the process (because those things WILL take you out if you’re in front of them). Otherwise, I will fire that sucker with no remorse, because I’m competetitive af.
And these chairs will never get old. XD
They’re talking again and it’s not awkward yet!
Whoops, not meant to be a reply.
Awkward yet?
Don’t you only get Blue Shells if you’re near last place? Or is that different in this version?
Yes. You have to be in the back half iirc.
That’s what I was thinking. If Amber’s getting a lot of blue shells, doesn’t that mean that Sal is crushing her?
That seems like the implication yes.
Plus we already know that Sal is freakishly good at the game, that she blew Ethan’s scores out of the water, and that Ethan and Amber used to play it frequently (and were presumably evenly matchedish, given that there was no comment to suggest otherwise).
Those were Danny’s scores, but yeah.
Assuming you mean Danny rather than Ethan, there was one comment suggesting otherwise: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2012/comic/book-2/04-time-keeps-on-slippin/preoccupied/
Danny can evidently only beat Amazi-Girl when she’s playing one-handed.
*a reprise of the Beatles’ “Baby You Can Drive My Car” on the hacked Muzak*
Where’s the “Like” button when you need it?
Or on a battery of floppy drives…
So is this the answer to ‘what was in Sal’s box from home?’ Dorothy got a prepaid money card, so probably Sal also got one of those and put the money into a 3DS?
Yeah, it was in the hovertext when her 3DS first showed up.
I need to start reading hovertexts more often!
Ahh, a 3D handheld game….something I will never own (sadly stereoblind – 3D vfx hurt my head)
I adopted a kitten. I named him Danny. He’s sweet, kind, clingy, fussy, and my own personal stalker and I love him so much. He is currently asleep on my chest with his butt pointed towards my face.
:3
Maybe Danny wasn’t the right name for him then. DOA Danny would never consciously turn so only his ass points at someone, not aggressive enough… 😛
“Game keeps giving her blue shells, but she ain’t usin’ em.”
Ignoring the blue shell metaphor for racism/privilege for now, Amber’s losing. Mario Kart only gives blue shells if you’re in the back half of the pack. I wonder just how much this is eating her up that Sal is beating her rather handily.
Oh, huh. It’s been a long minute, so I’d forgotten about that. I guess she is fucked up.
Oh, but then, the text is that she’s competitive. Willis actually plays Mario Kart, right? How likely is it that Willis forgot about the Back Half getting Blue Shells?
I believe the idea is she IS losing, and she can’t catch up without using them, despite her competitive attitude and lots of trying. She might want to beat Sal on her skill as player without using tools like Blue Shells.
Sal doesn’t know why that matters to Amber though, and is probably pulling any properly competitive trick she can.
Wait can you explain to me the metaphor? From my understanding, privilege is opportunity that is given to a party regardless of if they need or earned it. The shell only ever goes to the person that is behind.
Or is this specially because the white girl got the help to catch up with the black girl that was just better
The metaphor is that extra help is given to those who are behind, because it does no good to give it to the person in front.
As a game mechanic in the real world, it isn’t. It’s just a way for Mario Kart to function as a party game so that players of any skill level can compete with each other.
In this case, however, we see Sal beating Amber by being damn good at the game. The game keeps giving Amber little unearned advantages in the form of blue shells. They are designed to help Amber win by damaging Sal and dragging her down rather than by lifting Amber up.
I feel like the fairest and also least likely to cause a fight thing to do with the chairs would be to use one, but cover the open L with a blanket. Also easier to get in and out of.
Until people continue pulling off the blanket just to be a dick or because they think somebody accidentally left it there.
upholstery tacks
She could lay one on the floor as she has here and press the open face against a wall. It would be a little cramped, but it would do the job.
Is it also weird that the most interested relationship in this strip is Sal and Amber?
Sal, stop being so adorable this instant. DAMMIT SAL, THINK OF MY NEEDS.
DON’T LISTEN TO BBCC, SAL, KEEP BEING ADORABLE.
Sal: “I really don’t care about either of your opinions, and Bagge, you couldn’t emulate my dialect if you tried.”
Eh, you’re not doing bad, far as I can tell. The only differences between yours and hers are she usually says “Ah” not “I” (though that’s not constant) and says ‘ya’ instead of you fairly often (also ‘yer’ instead of ‘your’ or ‘you’re’). If you really want to write her accent as particularly thick, she says ‘mah’ instead of ‘my’ during those times. I think the most common way (as in, not an instant where her accent is particularly thick, like some people’s gets when they’re very emotional) would be ‘Ah really don’t care about either of yer opinions and Bagge, you couldn’t emulate my dialect if ya tried.’ Or maybe with two ‘ya’s instead of one, but she seems to use ‘you’ when directly talking to someone.
Also – nooooooooooo Bagge, her being adorable is one of my key weaknesses, how dare you!
Compared to stoners, meth addicts are wieners, everyone knows that. 😛
I like how Danny instantly knows it’s amber in that privacy cave, haha
Well, I mean, “Danny’s friend” narrows down the possible field of guesses pretty considerably.
“JOE, what are you doing in there?”””
“Nothing, bro…. um, could you find my pants?”
The chair cube has been demoted to a chair brick.
See her mighty empire crumble
one brick on the road to Civ IV
Of course that Sal is good at Mario Kart. It’s driving and driving is her thing.
Also I thought that Amber was going to stick to the cube next to Sal but apparently she still needs her cocoon to feel safe.
Perhaps given time and attention, she’ll evolve into a Beedrill!
That’s a really weird looking Kakuna to be honest.
Isn’t there a more cubical looking cocoon Pokémon?
Not sure! My Poke knowledge is much less exact post Gen IV.
Yeah, me too. Damn kids and their trash bag Pokémons.
Only in Pokemon Minecraft.
Vikavolt evolves from a little bus-looking thing, Charjabug.
Actually, it’s a beetle grub stylized to look like a battery, but yeah, it reminded me of a bus too.
Well that’s horrifying.
also Charjabug is not a cocoon
Porigon apparently there’s also Charjabug
Charjabugs are rectangular!
I just checked the last time we saw Danny and it was right when he’d first seen Amazigirl hanging out with Sal. Now he’s seeing Amber as Amber sort of hanging out with her. So I guess the conversation from last time will get to be an actual conversation?
if Amber wants that much privacy, why doesn’t she stay in her room rather than hoarding public chairs?
What and deprive us of more wacky chair hijinks?
The plot demands shenanigans.
Because at first Ethan was there and by the time he left, she’d discovered the amazingness of the chair fort.
Most of the time, she does stay in her room.
Killing spiders.
This IS her socializing.
(Also, her room might at any time be filled by an alarming amount of Becky, so it’s not a bad idea to practice to hang out in other spaces)
Sometimes it’s fun to stake out space in public. I remember one exam season in college, about a dozen of us staked out space in the sitting room to work on final projects and exams round the clock. We almost lived in those chairs. It was like having your own house. Although granted, we did not put up any blanket forts.
The stoner was Guns.
Or Ethan’s RA, because my head canon is that he has an absolutely shitty day.
“Made a scapegoat for someone else having sex, didn’t have sex myself. had to sit through a Wesley-episode… chair, you are my only friend now.”
“GET OF MY CHAIR!!!!”
“I warn you, ferengi-sized citizen. I know the vulcan nerv-pinch and… NOT THE FACE!!!!”
“…Picard, give me strength”
This is not me being snarky. What kind of gift cards let you buy used stuff?
Prepaid cash cards.
Or a gift card to gamestop, though that’s an unlikely gift to Sal.
Also Amazon cards.
She traded the gift card with a guy on a street. Under a bridge. Selling the 3DS out of his trunk.
I’ve actually seen essentially that done before though with a less implicitly negative/sketchy person trading for the card. I like to hit up garage sales and see what I can find cheap on occasion, and at one watched someone trade a supposed $75 gift card for, as I recall, about $40, as marked, worth of stuff.
A lot of major credit card companies sell gift cards that you can just put money on. Like the visa vanilla card for ex. Useful for people who can’t get a bank account for whatever reason.
Danny: “Wait, you talked back to me without this being awkward. Are we still at least friends?”
Amber: “Can’t talk right now. I’m losing! And I refuse to use blue shells! Check back in say, fifteen minutes?”
Danny: “Wait why aren’t you using blue shells?”
Amber: “And destroy a friendship with Mario Kart before it’s even begun?”
The big question is: Which of them got Wiggler?
This is a really sweet and funny strip in an understated way.
FWIW, I suspect that Amber has a strategy that she’s waiting to execute and Sal is getting a bit on edge trying to anticipate. I also suspect that, after this, Amber will suddenly be in a situation where Sal won’t leave her alone until she beats her at Mario Kart fair and square!
From personal nemesis to gaming arch-rival. It will be a shocking change and I suspect it will throw Amber how much she enjoys it!
I love how relaxed and casual Danny can be with Sal. They really are developing a genuine friendship.
I knowwwwwwwwww! He just genuinely LIKES her so much, and not because he can get in her pants. Considering Sal’s apparent lack of good friends in her past not named Marcie, I hope it will be good for both of them <3
Yup. I suspect it will take quite some time for Sal to think of friends in other terms than “singular”, but any two people who hang out, have fun and look after each other are OK in my book.
Apparently Sal has a stricter definition, based on how much she’s willing to trust someone, rather than on affection or enjoying time spent.
Valid metric, but considering Sal’s trust issues, it’s no wonder.
Sal’s definition of friendship is one I can appreciate. I’ve always been a bit astonished at how casually friendship is claimed at times in general society.
I’m a bit wary of people who are quick to call others friends. There are obligations attached to the concept. I can be a bit of a self absorb bastard at times and I prefer that people who do become my friends are aware of that
as well as giving me time to get a good feel of who they are before the word
friendship gets bandied around.
There doesn’t really seem to be a good word for those people you enjoy doing certain activities with (Tabletop gamer here among other things) but wouldn’t want involved in any part of your life beyond that. Not without being insulting.
Went off on a tangent here, but the talk of what defines friendship struck a chord.
That said, I very much see the beginnings of a, non romantic, healthy relationship between the two. They have this nice low key vibe when together.
I think most people will acknowledge different degrees of friendship and what you’re describing sounds more like what most people would call ‘casual friends’. People you like seeing but don’t really know much about or want to be involved with. Those kind of people are regular friends and the ones you trust a lot tend to be good friends.
It’d be helpful if there were different words though, because people tend to jump to ‘good friends’ upon hearing friends.
The expansion and/or commodification of “friend” by
marketingsocial media has definitely not helped matters.Eh, I’ve seen people with incredibly casual definitions of the word since pre-social media. But you’re probably right that more people’s definition has changed because of it.
Yeah, people who immediately claim to be my friend weird me out. Like this one girl I knew who randomly proclaimed “YOU’RE MY BEST FRIEND” and I literally replied “… what? Seriously??” “What’s wrong?” “We’ve literally only known eachother for like two weeks. If I’m your best friend that’s kind of sad ^O__o^;; ” (sounds kind of mean but I mean I’d met some of her friends by then so I knew it wasn’t true at all)
clearing the air time!!!!
Go figure, the girl with the intense anxiety and severe lack of rage control gets a strip right as my own is being set off.
This worthless fucking drunk had better stop screaming before he comes into the house, and that had better not have been him causing the cat to scream that way. Otherwise, well… I won’t be around in the comments for a while, and let’s leave it at that.
Things didn’t go south. My apologies for dumping it here.
Dump all you want. We’re here for you in whatever capacity we can be.
Poor Stoner, he thought he was up against rich boy Bruce Wayne but it was actually The Batman.
On a weird (kinda) unrelated note, I lowkey hope Sal discover Animal Crossing: New Leaf later.
While I was trying to comment, a new strip was posted. Damn You Willis.
Blue shells Smiling at me Nothing but blue shells Do I see
Stoners do not deserve chairs. Must sleep now.
Sal must be new(ish) to Mario Kart then. You do NOT use Blue Shells in Mario Kart unless you wish to end a friendship. 😛
Which says a lot about what Amber subconsciously wants from Sal.
I honestly think Amber just wants to avoid anything close to “attacking” Sal.
Finaly tactic : that same formation with one chair, but against the wall to block the opening.
God Amber, I’m not particulary claustrophobic but seeing you in the dark in that very narrow space made me cringe.
*Still hoping that Danny gets to come out to Amber of his own volition and not because of some zany shenanigans*
Used Pink 3DSs are usually £10/$15 cheaper than other used ones from what I’ve seen when purchasing mine online last year. It’s why my own used one is also pink.
Yep, same with laptops. Mine was brand new, red, blue, black and etc ones were on special at $599. For no apparent reason the pink ones were $349. Same everything else, just a different colour.
Yeah, I got a used pink one too because hey, color doesn’t affect functionality, and if I can save a few extra bucks…
even stuff that arn’t used can fall into this: I got my ipod 200 kr cheaper than if I bought some other colour.
Wait….how did Sal spot Danny through the chair when he is approaching from behind.
She’s batman, she has 360 vision.
She’s Sal, she has 3DS vision.
Sal calls him Wonderbread because he emits a sheer aura of blandness that actively erodes everything around him.
I have to be honest, if I saw someone doing what Amber was doing, I’d judge them SUPER hard…
Aw, man, those comments were deleted. They were wild.
wat
There were some comments, a couple paragraphs long. I didn’t know how to respond to them, but they were fascinating.
Wait, that may have been on a different comic. Okay, everyone ignore me forever.
I have not deleted any comments on this page, no.
The comments section is pretty hard to keep track of. I’m travelling back in time looking for the macaroni pizza thing.
When life gives you blue shells, make turtle soup.
Delicious, explodey turtle soup.
I remember when everyone in the comic had regular DS’s
At first I was sad we jumped from the very interesting possibly soon to be trainwreck that is Leslie, Joyce and Becky vs Robin, but yay, we’re back to Sal and Amber! I’m so glad they’re actually interacting in a way that isn’t Amber freaking out. I have hopes that things will be better.
cause auto targeting is cheap~
also..
her 3ds signal is strong considering those chairs
Willis thought of that. Amber has an external antenna. It’s visible on the carpet in the last panel.
Well, I suggested stacking two chairs against the wall, but I suppose using the floor would work as well, although it might be hard on the neck; and I hope she has something insulating her from the floor, I hate to think what might be in the carpet.